Thursday, October 10, 2024


Democracies Stand In The Way Of Globalists Climate Agenda

I have frequently written over the last several years that the agenda of the climate-alarm lobby in the Western world is not consistent with the maintenance of democratic forms of government

Governments maintained by free elections, the free flow of communications, and other democratic institutions are not able to engage in the kinds of long-term central planning exercises required to force a transition from one form of energy and transportation systems to completely different ones.

Why? Once the negative impacts of vastly higher prices for all forms of energy begin to impact the masses, the masses in such democratic societies are going to rebel, first at the ballot box, and if that is not allowed by the elites to work, then by more aggressive means.

This is not a problem for authoritarian or totalitarian forms of government, like those in Saudi Arabia, China, and Russia, where long-term central planning projects invoking government control of the means of production is a long-ingrained way of life.

If the people revolt, then the crackdowns are bound to come.

This societal dynamic is a simple reality of life that the pushers of the climate alarmist narrative and forced energy transition in Western societies have been loathe to admit.

But, in recent days, two key figures who have pushed the climate alarm narrative in both the United States and Canada have agreed with my thesis in public remarks.

In so doing, climate alarmists are uttering the quiet part out loud about their real agenda.

Last week, former Obama Secretary of State and Biden climate czar John Kerry made remarks about the “problem” posed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that should make every American’s skin crawl.

Speaking about the inability of the federal government to stamp out what it believes to be misinformation on big social media platforms, Kerry said:

“Our First Amendment stands as a major block to the ability to be able to just, you know, hammer it out of existence,” adding, “I think democracies are, are very challenged right now and have not proven they can move fast enough or big enough to deal with the challenges that we are facing.”

Never mind that the U.S. government has long been the most focused purveyor of disinformation and misinformation in our society. Kerry wants to stop the free flow of information on the Internet.

The most obvious targets are Elon Musk and X, the only big social media platform that does not willingly submit to the government’s demands to censor speech.

Kerry’s desired solution is for Democrats to “win the ground, win the right to govern by hopefully having, you know, winning enough votes that you’re free to be able to, to, implement change.”

The change desired by Kerry, Vice President Kamala Harris, and other prominent Democrats is to obtain enough power in Congress and the presidency to revoke the Senate filibuster, pack the Supreme Court, enact the economically ruinous Green New Deal, and do it all before the public has any opportunity to rebel.

Not to be outdone by Kerry, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland of Canada, who is a longtime member of the board of trustees of the World Economic Forum, was quoted Monday as saying:

“Our shrinking glaciers, and our warming oceans, are asking us wordlessly but emphatically if democratic societies can rise to the existential challenge of climate change.”

It should come as no surprise to anyone that the central governments of both Canada and the United States have moved in increasingly authoritarian directions under their current leadership, both of which have used the climate alarmist narrative as justification.

This move was widely predicted once the utility of the Covid ‘pandemic’ to rationalize government censorship and restrictions of individual liberties began to fade in 2021.

Frustrated by their perceived need to move even faster to restrict freedoms and destroy democratic levers of public response to their actions, these zealots are now discarding their soft talking points in favor of more aggressive messaging.

This new willingness to say the quiet part out loud should truly alarm anyone who values their freedoms.

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Ex-Green leader declares war on strawberries

Who remembers Natalie Bennett, the Aussie-accented eco-warrior whose car crash interviews briefly enlivened the 2015 election campaign? The onetime Green leader has since been installed as one of our great unelected masters in the House of Lords. But it seems that all that the institutional knowledge there has not yet rubbed off on Bennett, who continues to suffer a chronic case of foot-in-mouth syndrome. Many such cases…

In her never-ending quest to make life worse for the British people, Bennett has found a new scourge on which to direct her ire: strawberries. Yes, that’s right, apparently growing the popular red fruit in colder months is killing the planet and must be banned immediately. Talk about priorities eh? Taking to Twitter last night, the Green peer shared a Times article on a British farm which dared to use LEDs to grow strawberries for Christmas. It prompted Bennett to indignantly thunder that:

Do we _need_ strawberries in winter? No. Maybe

Put that on a poster and vote for it. When the Greens promised a new kind of politics, Mr S didn’t realise that Cromwellian Puritanism is what they had in mind…

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Toyota's portable hydrogen cartridges look like giant AA batteries – and could spell the end of lengthy EV charging

Toyota is showcasing a series of sustainable developments at the Japan Mobility Bizweek later this month – including its vision of a portable hydrogen cartridge future, which could apparently provide 'swappable' power for next-gen hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs).

Originally a project of Toyota’s mobility technology subsidiary Woven (formerly Woven Planet), the team produced a working prototype of a hydrogen cartridge back in 2022 but has since developed the idea further… and appears to be running with it.

The latest cartridges are lighter and easier to transport, with Toyota claiming the current iteration has been developed with the experience the company has gained in reducing the size and weight of the hydrogen tanks used in its fuel cell electric vehicles.

The concept involves hydrogen cartridges that are compact and light enough to be carried by hand, with one model wearing what looks like an oversized AA battery on his back in a specially design backpack.

Put simply, the cartridges would allow fuel cell electric vehicle drivers to swap out their power source when hydrogen levels run low, rather than having to refuel at a station like you typically would with a fossil fuel-powered car.

But Toyota also feels that these refillable and renewable cartridges could be used in a multitude of situations, such as to generate electricity in a fuel cell to power the home or even providing hydrogen to burn for cooking.

In fact, Toyota and the Rinnai Corporation are exhibiting a stove at Japan Mobility Bizweek that does just that. Similarly, in emergency situations, the hydrogen cartridge could be removed from the car and used to power any applicable device in the case of a blackout, for example.

Although just a concept for now, Toyota feels that these lightweight, portable cartridges could create a more affordable and more convenient way to deliver hydrogen to where people live and work, without the need to lay a huge network of pipes.

With advances in battery technology, the next generation of hydrogen fuel cell passenger cars, such as Renault's recent Emblème concept, could well boast more energy dense battery packs, so can harness the power of much smaller hydrogen tanks to help zero emissions vehicles travel further without lengthy charging stops.

Toyota’s vision of portable hydrogen cartridges has the potential to power a multitude of vehicles and everyday objects, from smaller capacity motorcycles to cars and even home appliances.

The company’s concept would see fresh hydrogen cartridges delivered, alongside food and other items, with the spent cartridges retrieved and refilled. As a result, Toyota says it is currently looking to find matches with technologies and ideas from companies and startups in different fields, including both service provision and the development and sale of devices using the cartridges.

Although much debated in the automotive space, hydrogen is a flexible fuel source, with the ability to generate electricity in fuel cells or used as a combustion fuel.

It emits nothing in the way of CO2 when used (water is the only byproduct), and it can help contribute to net zero targets if it is produced using renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar.

With demand waning globally for EVs, it feels as if hydrogen is back on the agenda, with the likes of Hyundai, BMW and Honda all exploring ways of making the technology commercially viable.

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Australian conservatives commit to keep coal fired power stations open ‘indefinitely’

David Crisafulli will keep Queensland’s coal fired power stations open “indefinitely” if he is elected to ensure energy remains “reliable and affordable” during the transition to renewables.

The Liberal National Party leader has committed to net zero emissions by 2050, but is yet to release a detailed plan on how that would be achieved.

Speaking in Mackay on Thursday, Mr Crisafulli said Queensland had the youngest fleet of coal-fired power plants in the country and he would keep them maintained and operational.

“We will continue to ensure that they operate whilst they are needed to form part of the mix of affordable, reliable and sustainable electricity,” he said.

“There is no way the vast majority of thinking Queenslanders would want us to shut off baseload power before the capacity of the next generation of energy has been developed.”

Asked if that meant they would run indefinitely, Mr Crisafulli said: “Well, I guess the answer to that is yes”.

“We need the baseload power that comes from those coal-fired power generators, we need that there,“ he said.

“We also need to have a vision to make sure that we are part of a transition to renewable energy, but it’s got to be done in a way that makes sure that Queenslanders can continue to afford their bills whilst we work towards the future.”

Mr Crisafulli’s LNP voted to support Labor’s legislated plan to cut 75 per cent of emissions by 2035, but has not set a renewable energy target.

Labor is relying on the proposed Pioneer-Burdekin Pumped Hydro project, near Mackay, to enable it to shut down the state’s five coal-fired power stations and reach its target of 80 per cent renewable energy by 2035.

The project is still being subjected to financial, engineering and environmental investi­gations and is yet to get government approvals or substantive funding.

Initial estimates put the project at $12bn but that figure is expected to balloon after more detailed financial modelling is complete.

Mr Crisafulli has backed Labor’s other Borumba pumped-hydro station, near Gympie, but has rubbished Pioneer-Burdekin as a “hoax”.

He has pledged to fund Borumba and partner with the private sector to build smaller pumped-hydro projects.

On Thursday he refused to say how many pumped hydro plans would be built if the LNP won government, when or where they would be built and the estimated cost to taxpayers.

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